Potomac families with kindergarten through fifth-grade children can get a free, 30-minute reading assessment on Saturday, Aug. 22, at McLean School's Falls Road campus, three days before MCPS opens its doors for the 2026-27 school year on Tuesday, Aug. 25.

The screening uses Acadience Reading, one of three nationally validated tools that measure early literacy skills and flag children who may need intervention. According to the event listing on Patch, the session begins at 8:30 a.m. at 11810 Falls Road.

What the test measures

Acadience Reading evaluates phonemic awareness, phonics, oral reading fluency and reading comprehension through a series of brief, individually administered tasks. Results place each child in one of four categories: Above Benchmark, At Benchmark, Below Benchmark or Well Below Benchmark. Children scored Below or Well Below are considered likely to need strategic or intensive reading support, according to the Acadience assessment manual.

For a parent, the takeaway is concrete: a child rated Well Below Benchmark has roughly a 10-20% chance of meeting subsequent literacy goals without additional help.

Why it matters now

The timing gives families a narrow window to act. A parent who learns on Aug. 22 that their child scores below grade-level expectations still has the weekend to request reading support services from their MCPS school before classes begin.

The need is real across the district. When 2026 MCAP results were released July 28, The Baltimore Banner reported that 58.5% of MCPS students scored proficient in English language arts. Cold Spring Elementary in Potomac led the county in both English and math, and Winston Churchill High posted above 90% proficiency in 10th-grade English. In math, the gap for students with disabilities is stark: only 13.6% achieved proficiency, with no year-over-year growth.

MCPS Superintendent Thomas Taylor called the overall results "really encouraging progress" in a July 28 statement but acknowledged, "We are far from finished."

Who's behind the screening

McLean School, a private K-12 school on Falls Road founded in 1954, specializes in students with dyslexia, ADHD, and executive functioning challenges. The school uses a 100% Orton-Gillingham reading approach and is affiliated with the International Dyslexia Association.

The screening is open to any child in kindergarten through fifth grade, not just McLean students. Families can register through McLean School's website; no online registration link was provided in the event posting.

MCPS classes begin Tuesday, Aug. 25.